NASB Longprimer?

After rummaging through a local Christian Bookstore, I ran across a NASB Bible that I hadn’t seen before.  What caught my attention about this particular bible was the dark bold font. The Publisher is Zondervan, and the Bible is the NASB Giant Print Reference Personal Size.

Typically one doesn’t see any modern translations with type this dark and bold, so I was quite surprised. What is advertised as a giant print is really a large print with the text being listed as a 9.5 pt. font, but the font appears closer to a size 10/11. The outside bible measurements are approximately 8.75″ x 5.75″ x 1.5″ and the total page count including the concordance is 1814 pages.

This is a very readable bible, but I would be remiss if I failed to mention the paper is thin and there is some bleed-through from the print on the opposite side of the page. Surprisingly, even with such a dark bold font, I don’t find the bleed-through at all distracting. The downsides to me are the narrow columns at about 23 characters per line. Another problem is the narrow margins that leave little room for notes that places the text of the inside column a little too close to the gutter. And, if you consider the words of Christ in red a downside, then we agree, but to be fair the red print in this bible is good. There is some variation of the red print, but even with the variation, the red print is better than most red print bibles, and the black print is dark and consistent throughout.

 This particular edition has a black imitation leather binding and it is also available in burgundy. I can’t really say anything redeemable about this imitation leather, (more paper than leather) but Zondervan does offer this edition in bonded leather. On the plus side, this edition is sewn, and after an initial break-in period it lies very flat from Genesis to Revelation. The page edges are stained, but minus the gold, and if gold edges are your preference, again you have the option of buying the bonded leather edition. If you plan on keeping this bible for any length of time or plan on giving it as a gift then I recommend the bonded leather, besides its only $15 more. And, for those of you who prefer index tabs, Zondervan has indexed editions available as well.

Although not advertised, this bible appears to have 95,000 cross references. Also, each book of the bible has a brief introduction, 8 pages of bible maps, and a 65-page concordance. And the print in the Concordance and the cross references are very readable, which is something that is becoming quite the rare occurrence.

In conclusion, I love the dark bold font in this bible and if I were looking for an affordable, somewhat portable, and very readable NASB, then this would be it. This would also make a great gift for a new convert or anyone who requires a portable large-print bible. But, if Zondervan was like Burger King and if I could really have it my way, then I’d opt for wider columns, wider margins, better paper, and a black letter edition.

NASB Giant Print Personal Size Reference

And… for those of you who may be a little sore at me for baiting you with the NASB Longprimer teaser, here are a few photos for comparison, and I’m sorry if I might have misled you in any way, well, kind of.